Two Descenders
by Naiyo-Nightbringer
Summary: -"I know I was supposed to do this alone, Mormo. But that doesn't mean people don't need help!" Nova
1. Awakening

Chapter 1

Awakening

(By Sayako Nightbringer)

"Wake up! Your world, Terresia! It's in real trouble! C'mon, wake up!" Once the girl moved slightly to get up, the white creature sighed with relief. As soon as she was up he started talking again. "You with me now? You had me worried for a minute."

The girl stared at the white creature for a minute though dark emerald eyes before asking coldly, "Who... are you?" He watched her movements for a small moment to understand why she had been slightly monotone about her question. She had black hair just slightly below her shoulders and held herself in a held back sort of way. Her outfit was a dark red short-sleeved trench coat that reached her knees over a similar colored knee-length shorts and tee shirt combo. The trim was golden and adorning her hands and feet were dark brown gloves/boots. He smiled anyways, not worrying about it.

"I'm Mormo! Thanks for answering my call." he replied. The girl looked at him like he was crazy. After all, he looked slightly like a white mouse with tiny wing-_things _where his tail should have been. He continued as if nothing was wrong. "I was the one who asked the World Tree for your birth. And your name is?"

Might as well get this over with. He obviously isn't gonna leave me alone anytime soon she thought darkly to herself. "Nova," she answered without care. She was about to say something when Mormo cut in.

"All right. Nice to meet you Nova." When she didn't say anything, he continued. "This world is called Terresia, and you're a "Descender," born from Terresia's World Tree."

"Umm..."

"You're probably a little lost, just being born and all. Don't worry, I'm here for you." Mormo said happily, grinning like an idiot. "See, I'm a Descender, too. Not from this world, though. My world's called Yaoon." Nova opened her mouth to speak but shut it again as Mormo kept talking. "Actually, wait... ...do you know about Descenders? See, this world is..."

"**AHHHH!!"**

"A scream!? I'll explain later, Nova!! Come on! Let's follow that voice!" And with that he flew off towards the scream. Nova sighed and shook her head. This was going to be a looong day...

"Look, Nova! That girl's getting attacked! We gotta help her!" Mormo said franticly. The "girl" had pink-ish hair in two braids and was wearing some weird outfit. Nova noticed the soldier after a moment and hung her head a little. This wasn't good.

"Never seen the likes of you around town. More spies?!" he accused angrily. His accusation made Nova raise an eyebrow.

"..._Spies?_" she asked with a note of disbelief in her voice. She was just "born" and was already being called a spy? This was more unfair that usual. Whatever usual was.

"Whatever. I'll finish the whole lot of you!" the soldier exclaimed. Mormo and the girl ran to the sidelines while Nova drew her dagger. She looked at her dagger then at the soldier's blade.

"Oh, joy" she grumbled sarcastically before running towards her enemy. He swung, causing her to jump back. The tip of his blade cut small strands of her hair but that was it. She landed awkwardly, unsure of how to fight. Nova dashed forward to get a few swings in before his blade connected with her side. She dashed back a little and searched within herself for something of use. A lit bomb showed itself in her hand and she cracked a grin. She got close enough before hurling the bomb, watching it explode in the soldier's chest, successfully knocking him back. As soon as he was up, she dashed forward again to put in the last few strikes but getting hit for her carelessness. She was fast, but his defence was high as well as his strength in sacrifice for his speed. Her attacks weren't great, but she could swing more times than he could. Nova reached within her soul for that magic power again to conjure up another couple of bombs and threw them, killing the soldier.

* * *

"Hey, you okay?" Mormo asked the pink haired girl. Nova was still standing at the spot where she had defeated the soldier. He had just vanished in a black-purple cloud of... _something_. Something wasn't right here.

"Who are you...?" the girl asked carefully. Just then, a blue haired man ran up with a bow and quiver strung to his back.

"Kanonno!! Are you alright?" he asked the pink haired girl. She looked at him and nodded.

"Chester.. I'm fine. These people saved me" Kanonno explained to him. She didn't look surprised to see him there. Mormo nodded energetically.

"I'm Mormo! This here is Nova!" he said just as happily as before. Nova snapped out of her thoughts and walked over to the flying creature. She looked at the archer for a moment before he caught her meaning and stumbled over his words before something was coherent.

"Uh, I'm Chester. Chester Barklight" he said uneasily. As soon as Nova's gaze shifted elsewhere, he released the breath he didn't know he was holding. "Looks like you helped Kanonno. Thanks." Chester thought for a moment, looking Nova and Mormo over. "Hmm... I haven't seen you two before. Are you refugees?" he asked. Nova scoffed.

"...First "spies" now "refugees"? What the hell are you talking about?" Nova snapped, glaring at the archer again. This time, he met her glare, but not meaning it.

"Well you're not from around here, are you? Where'd you come from?" This caught Nova and her glare fell.

"I don't... know..." she answered after a moment. Chester nodded and glanced around before looking at Nova again.

"...I see. But you're not from here. You're lucky. It's really hard for refugees to enter the town" he explained. Kanonno walked over to Nova to catch her attention.

"So, you don't remember anything...?" she asked. Nova nodded just to erase suspicion. "You too, huh? Nothing at all from before you got here..."

"We'll get spotted again if we hang around here. Let's go home, Kanonno" Chester told the girl to remind her of the problem. She nodded and thanked Nova for saving her earlier, only to receive a silent nod. "Nova. If you've got nowhere else to go, look for a man named Kratos in town. Just say you're there about Ad Libitum. They'll understand. Well, later! I'm sure we'll meet again." And with that, Chester and Kanonno left Mormo and Nova to their thoughts.

"And he's gone..." Mormo muttered. He glanced around worriedly. "This place doesn't look to good. Let's head into town! I'd like to get some info about this world too." As he flew off Nova hesitated. She looked at some of the tree's roots before running off to follow her guide. Although she didn't notice the tree's silent call for another.

* * *

**Disclaimer: Kiki and I do not own any Tales of characters which actually belong to their own creators. Nova is our own creation.**


	2. Lengthy Explanations, Oh Joy

Chapter 2

Lengthy Explanations, Oh joy...

(By: Sayako Nightbringer)

"Wow, is Terresia's World Tree huge! And this world is so full of mana. Do you know about mana?" Nova shook her head, giving Mormo the ok to continue. "The World Tree produces mana, which gives energy to the earth and all life on it. We all share in its blessing. It's your job to protect this world, and the World Tree that makes it live. That's your job as a Descender. It's why you were born here Nova. Oh, that's right, I wasn't through explaining that!" he explained, making Nova groan. How long was the stupid creature going to talk? Come on!

"Descenders are the world's protectors, born from the World Tree in times of need. This world is called Terresia, and you're its Descender." Yes, we know this part, Nova wanted to say. " I'm a Descender from another world, Yaoon. I told you that earlier, right? This world is being threatened by a terrible earth-consuming monster."

"And that is?"

"My world, Yaoon… the land, its inhabitants… That thing ate them all."

"Mormo..."

"Everything but a tiny splinter of the World Tree that held me."

Ok, this was annoying. "Mormo."

"After that, it moved on to Terresia…Looking for its next meal, I guess.

"Mormo......" Nova growled, not liking being ignored.

"I want to ask for you and everyone in this world's help in beating that beast." Mormo finished....almost.

"Why do you want to beat it so badly?" Nova asked, irritated.

"If we can stop it… Maybe I can restore my world." Oh that's fun. "I realize it's a long shot. I just can't stop hoping... Plus I can't just sit by and watch the same thing happen to another world."

"Mormo" Nova began, trying to get his attention, again.

"Aaanyway, let's do what we can for this place! C'mon!"

"MORMO!!!!" Nova yelled in frustration when the small creature flew off.

* * *

"Whoa, what's going on over there?" Mormo asked Nova, who sent the creature a glare.

"Like I know" she hissed to him. She looked back at the people in the plaza. One looked just plain ugly, but seemed to be in control. There was a chill in the back of her neck just from watching him. The other man was an ordinary civilian..... On his knees?

"P-please! Forgive me, Lord Ganser!" the man cried.

"Hyeh hyeh hyeh. We have a rule against leaving this town. You broke it." The 'creepy guy' replied. He sounded like there was something wrong in either his brain or his voice just didn't go through puberty. Either way, his voice made Nova shiver slightly. "A rule-breaker like you must be a spy for those outsiders after our tree!"

"No, sir! That's not true!" the man pleaded. "M-my daughter is sick. I just left to

gather some herbs. I'm no spy!"

"Hyeh, hyeheh! Spare me your lies. This man is exiled from the town! Take him away!" Ganser said, not even listening. Nova clenched her fists but stood still. This man was cruel! Only listening to his sick brain!

"Yes sir!" a soldier, not unlike the one that attacked Kanonno, grabbed the man by the arm.

"Th-this is insane!" the man cried while being carried away.

"I am merely protecting the peace of this town from those who would steal our World Tree! We're leaving!" Ganser said to the second soldier.

"Yes, sir!" And with that, they left.

"People can't leave town....? But why? That man's daughter was sick and she needed help! That 'Lord Ganser' man is sick!" Nova said, her voice steadily getting darker.

"And what's that about other countries being after the World Tree…?" Mormo asked, earning a shrug from Nova. If there was one thing she was sure to do, it was kill that man.

* * *

A strange, silver haired lady stood behind a desk in the Ailily Guild. When Nova and Mormo entered, she happily greeted them.

"Well, hello."

"A lady…?" Mormo muttered. Nova gave him a no duh look and he continued. "I guess this isn't Kratos then, huh?"

"My name is Raine Sage. You don't look familiar… A refugee, perhaps?" she asked innocently.

"Not that crap again" Nova growled. This was getting annoying.

"Here to file a request, then?" Raine asked. These two travelers were very confusing.

"Request? No, nothing like that! We came here because Chester told us to." Mormo replied. "He said to see a man named Kratos if we had nowhere to go. Said to mention 'Ad Libitum.'" he explained before Nova could say something she'd regret later.

Raine brightened at this. "So a prospective new recruit, then? Kratos, there's a pair of hopefuls here to see you." she called. A man with red hair and wearing some sort of armored blue and white outfit walked up. He looked doubtful, which angered Nova to no end.

"You don't look like much of a fighter… I couldn't trust you with a job." he finally said, watching Nova's gray eyes take on a charcoal tint.

"So your Kratos?" Nova asked darkly. Mormo panicked, not wanting Nova to blow their chance at somewhere to stay.

"His full name is Kratos Aurion. He's the leader of Ad Libitum in Ailily." Raine explained. Nova was about to say 'I could care less' when Mormo piped up.

"Hey, what do you mean "a job?" What does Ad Libitum do, anyway?"

"In terms of form, Ad Libitum exists as a sort of guild." Raine replied. "Our purpose as an organization is to protect the people from threat. Of course, we can't really do much out in the open."

"Huh? Why not?" Mormo asked.

"Ganser, the leader of this town, has outlawed guilds." Kratos replied, not sounding happy about it. Nova smirked, knowing that getting rid of Ganser would come eventually. Boy was she going to LOVE this. Bipolar much?

"Ganser… Oh yeah, we just saw him!" Mormo said, forgetting Nova's anger towards the odd town leader.

"Ganser controls all of the town's workings. Even the markets aren't free." Raine said softly. "Vendors are disappearing, and the people are left with only what scraps Ganser's thugs leave them. We provide the people with what they need to survive."

"That's means you leave the town somehow right?" Nova asked. At Kratos and Raine's nods she grinned. "How do you do it?"

"We can't tell you. Ad Libitum only helps those who help the people." he said, catching onto Nova's plan.

"I'm sorry, but we can't risk alerting Ganser to our activities here." Raise said, also catching on.

"Aww… Then hey! We'll enlist! We'll join Ad Libitum!!" Mormo explained. Catching the three humans off guard. Even Nova looked surprised.

"What?" she asked.

"Out of the question. This isn't something you can just do on a whim." Kratos replied.

"What do we have to do to join?" Nova asked, all darkness fading from her look. The serious tone caught Kratos off guard.

"Hmm…. So you're serious about this." Kratos mumbled. Nova's serious look didn't waver. He sighed before continuing. "Then I'll test your competence. We'll see if you have what it takes. Talk of joining our organization comes after you've passed."

"A test? What are you testing?" Mormo asked, again before Nova could. He was speaking WAY too much.

"Whether you can actually fulfill the requests of the townspeople." Kratos said like it was most obvious thing in the world. Nova could already tell she wasn't going to like this guy much.

"Oh…" Mormo muttered, earning once again another glare from Nova.

"Kanonno, are you around?" Kratos called towards the hallway.

"Yes, sir." The pick haired girl from before walked up. She looked surprised to see Nova and Mormo. "Oh! It's you…"

"Please explain our organization to our guests here." Kratos said before walking away.

"Certainly." Kanonno replied, turning to Nova just in time to hear her mutter jerk under her breath. She giggled slightly before becoming serious. "Okay, let me explain our guild, Ad Libitum, in a bit more detail. There are Ad Libitum chapters in every city, though ours is underground now. Our job as members of Ad Libitum is to take on requests from the townspeople. By extension, we're working to preserve peace in the world." she explained.

"Lengthy explanations. Oh joy" Nova muttered sarcastically.

"World peace…" Mormo muttered at the same time as Nova. Although in different tones.

"The people of Terresia live under the constant fear of that earth-consuming beast. People who have lost their homes are left to live from day to day as refugees." Kanonno continued.

"'Earth-consuming beast'?!" Nova exclaimed.

"It appeared here out of the blue, and keeps eating the land, even now. We call it the Devourer. It's completely different from any of this world's creatures." the girl replied.

"The Devourer… I guess it's collecting names as it collects worlds." Mormo said.

Kanonno nodded at this remark. "Lot's of people have come here as refugees after losing their homes to it.…But ever since Ganser took control, there's no getting out of town for anyone, refugee or otherwise.

"Why would you make a stupid rule like that?" Nova asked, crossing her arms.

"This town is home to the World Tree. It provides Terresia with mana, which keeps the Devourer at bay. Ganser claims other countries are after the tree, and that we shouldn't let them in…But everyone is scared and upset by the accusations he slings and the way he's closed off the town." she replied.

"I'll bet… And it looked like people were having trouble getting food and things." Nova added.

"Those townspeople's cries for help come to us. Ad Libitum takes on those requests. Whether it's leaving town to gather items, or delivering things, or whatever. We call those tasks 'quests.'"

"I see, I see. So you guys spend most of your time taking care of those quests?" Mormo asked.

"Right. First, you'd go to the guild and accept a quest. Next, you go talk to the person who requested it, then do whatever they need you to do. Once you're done, you head back to that person and deliver a report." Kanonno explained.

"Gotcha." Mormo said with a nod.

"Aside from that, Ad Libitum is also working to free the town from Ganser's oppression." Nova brightened at this. This was something she had been waiting to hear.

"I guess we better do our best then. That man needs to be stopped" Nova said, cracking her knuckles and making the other three jump a bit.

"I'm rooting for you. The World Tree's mana is meant for everyone. If we don't do something to stop the Devourer, there'll be no future for any of us. Try your best to become a full member of Ad Libitum! Once you do, you'll be able to change jobs at the guild and recruit allies to join you at the inn. Raine is the one who'll be introducing you to the quests in this town." Kanonno explained after recollecting her composure.

Raine nodded in agreement. "Correct, I'll handle all registration. But why don't you look around town, first? There are other members of Ad Libitum that you'll want to meet. My younger brother is one of them. His name is Genis, and I'm sure he'll help you out if you have any trouble. In any case, go meet and greet. Surly work can wait until after you've seen everyone." she said happily.

"You're right. With the help of Ad Libitum, we may be able to beat the Devourer! All right, let's do this!" Mormo exclaimed just as happily. Nova groaned.

"Do you always have to have the final word in things Mormo!?" she snapped, making Raine and Kanonno laugh.

* * *

"What's all that noise?" Mormo asked Nova quietly. She shrugged, not having any clue. Not that she cared. But she watched the scene anyway. A soldier was snapping at a girl with brown hair and a guy with red hair.

"Halt! You're under suspicion of spying! We're taking you in!"

The guy scoffed. "Damn it, they don't give up. That's it! I'm gonna destroy 'em." The girl grabbed his arm and shook her head. Apparently she was the smarter of the two, Nova observed.

"We're outnumbered. If they put up wanted posters, we could have the whole town hunting for us." she told him. He looked at her with an odd look.

"So, you have any brilliant ideas?" She glanced around.

"Let's hide here."

"Like hell! These are my favorite shoes! I'm not gonna ruin them." He replied, staring at her like she was crazy.

"Do as you please. Just don't expect me to help you when you get arrested." she said after a minute or so of calming down. He lost it.

"Gah, what's your problem? Fine, you want me to hide, I'll hide! Jeez!!" he snapped, pushing her into the hiding spot. The soldier lost them completely.

"Where'd they go? Over there?" With that the soldier was gone.

"Looks like they've gone." the guy muttered. The girl noticed Nova and Mormo.

"Oh, hello there."

"H-hello?" Mormo said, confused. Nova glared at him for stuttering.

"C'mon, let's go." the guy said, dragging the girl off. Nova raised an eyebrow.

"Do I even WANT to know why they're being chased?" Mormo shrugged at this. "I didn't want an answer to that Mormo. I was talking to myself" Nova growled.

* * *

**Finally a chapter out! Sorry everyone who has read the first chappy. I'll try to get this story out a bit faster. I won't ask for reviews, that's something pople do on their own time, but it would be helpful if you have any useful tips or just random things to say. We like random. Now just onto bugging Flarginsnarf into helping us out a bit. C'ya**


	3. Meeting Ailily's Ad Libitum

**Sayako: I know this chapter is a little short, but I wanted to get something out for you who are reading this. I'll work on getting a longer chapter out next. So...**

**Sorry for taking so long! *bows***

**

* * *

  
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Chapter 3

Meeting Ailily's Ad Libitum

(By: Sayako Nightbringer)

Nova huffed as she entered the town's inn. She was still irritated by what had been shoved in her face so far, and now she had to try and figure out where – and who – the other members were. It took her only a few moments of being there before she had to quickly dodge out of Chester's way as he left the inn.

"Where is Chester going?" Mormo asked, earning a shrug from the Terresian Descender. Instead of dwelling on that, she looked across the inn's main room to see a red headed teen in a blue shirt and tan pants with lightish blue eyes. He spotted them and walked over with a grin on his face.

"So, you're the new recruits, huh? I'm Reid Herschel." he introduced.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Mormo, and that's Nova!" Mormo replied, gesturing towards the girl behind him. Reid nodded absently.

"Okay."

Mormo and Nova shared a confused glance. Reid caught onto their silence and returned the confusion. "...What?"

"Nothing." Nova replied, shaking her head.

"Oh. Okay." Reid answered, looking less tense than before.

"You want to tell us a little about yourself?" Mormo tried. Reid thought for a minute.

"Umm, sure... Well, I'm a hunter by trade. No hobbies to speak of, except maybe watching the clouds go by." he explained, getting a slight dreamy tone in the last bit which made Nova raise an eyebrow. He didn't catch this and continued. "Does that work? I'm not very good at this sort of thing."

"Yeah! Now we've got more than a name and a face. Thanks!" Mormo told him, grinning. Reid returned the grin.

"Sure, I'll see you around!" the boy called after them as they left the inn. Nova looked around the immediate area before walking towards the plaza.

"Ah! Nova! Where are you going?"

"If we know anything about Chester, it's that he is over-protective of Kanonno. And Kanonno is most likely going to be at the plaza. Maybe we'll find more Ad Libitum members there." she explained, waiting for the creature to catch up with her before continuing on her way.

* * *

Sure enough, Chester was pestering Kanonno again. Nova groaned and got close enough to catch the conversation. She'd go talk to the other people in the plaza later.

"Hey, are you hungry? You're not hurt anywhere, are you? Want me to sing you a song?" Chester was asking, not noticing how flustered Kanonno was.

"Th-thanks, Chester." she stuttered, hoping to calm him down. Instead, he just continued as if she hadn't spoken.

"A song, huh? Okay! Let me just, ahem… Do some warm up exercises. Mi mi mi " he hummed. Mormo looked worried for his health.

"Um, Chester?"

"Wh-what do you want?" Chester accidentally snapped, not realizing he had an audience.

"You're smothering her, man. Look, you've got her all startled!" Mormo told him, finally snapping him back to his senses.

"Really?" Chester asked, looking sheepish. He looked at Kanonno for confirmation, but she blushed at all of the attention.

"N-not... really?"

"There, you hear that? Look, here's two Gald, now run along" Cheater dismissed as if Mormo and Nova were some little kids pestering him. Nova glared at him.

"Could you hake it any less?" she snapped, Mormo giving a sarcastic 'WooHoo'. "And keep your money! Listen! I'm just saying, from where we stand, from what we've seen... You're getting creepy Chester!"

Chester flinched, coming back again. He flushed. "Is... it really that bad?" he asked.

"It's awful. Really awful" Nova told him.

"Heh, thanks for breaking it to me gently..." Chester replied, only partially sarcastic.

"...See?" Mormo asked.

Kanonno didn't like seeing the saddened look on the boy's face, so she tried to make it better. "Ah, but... Chester? I do appreciate you looking out for me. It's just that I..."

Chester cut in with a bright look on his face, telling them all it probably had made it worse. "You do? Well there you have it! Then I guess there's nothing anyone else can say about it!" he said cheerily, walking away. Kanonno looked worried and Nova just sighed, patting her shoulder.

"Ugh, there he goes again..." Mormo groaned.

"We at least tried, Kanonno." Nova reassured the girl, getting only a small worried nod.

* * *

After Kanonno left, a short, silver haired kid walked up to them. He kept his posture straight, most likely trying to look intimidating. Nova couldn't blame him considering how small he was compared to many of the other people in the town.

"What do we have here? A new recruit?" he stated, mostly to himself.

"Who's this kid…?" Nova asked, crossing her arms silently. The kid glared at that statement, not appreciating being called a kid.

"You sure you can handle the work Ad Libitum does?" He snapped back. Mormo had the decency to look a little worried. Was there something everyone wasn't telling them?

"Why do you ask?"

The kid smirked, glad to have something to hold against them. "Because it looks like you're the type to carelessly judge a book by its cover." he stated proudly.

"Well… Your cover IS pretty childish." Mormo replied honestly. The kid huffed.

"That's just on the outside. Inside, I'm a full-fledged member of Ad Libitum."

Mormo nodded. "I guess you're right. You've got seniority over us, anyway." He grinned after a moment of consideration. "Nice to meet you. I'm Mormo, and this is Nova."

"Hmm…" the kid hummed to himself, thoughtful.

"What's wrong?" Mormo asked, thinking they had done something wrong.

The kid shook his head, relaxing his posture. "I just noticed that you didn't doubt me, when I said I was with Ad Libitum."

Nova raised an eyebrow. "Should we have?"

"Well, just look at me. Clients are always asking me if I can handle the work, just because of my age."

Mormo was sympathetic. "But that's just on the outside… right? If Kratos has given you his seal of approval, nobody's got any right to doubt you."

"I guess you're right." The kid replied. He grinned and held out his hand. "Thanks. I'm Genis, by the way. Genis Sage."

Nova nodded and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, Genis."

* * *

**Disclaimer: KiKiDai and I own only our Descenders. The second of whom you will meet later. The rest of the chatacters belong to their original owners.**


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